Standridge secures state Senate seatEditor’s note: The vote totals in this article are according to final, unofficial results posted on the Secretary of State’s website. Visit www.sos.arkansas.gov to view all results by county. Greg Standridge defeated Stan Berry in the runoff election for the District 16 state Senate seat Tuesday. Standridge received nearly 54 percent of the votes with 2,673 while Berry brought in a little more than 46 percent with 2,313. In Pope County, Standr...

Don't forget to vote!Get out and vote! Today is election day in the runoff for the District 16 State Senate seat between Greg Standridge of Russellville and Stan Berry of Dover. Polls are open today from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at six locations throughout the county — Atkins, Crow Mountain, Hector, Pottsville, Dover and Russellville. A polling location is open at the W.J. Matthews Civic Center in Atkins for voters in the Atkins, Economy and Pea Ridge precincts. Cro...

Nearly 1,700 vote early in Senate runoffThe Pope County Election Commission reported 1,681 voted during the first week of early voting in the runoff election for the District 16 State Senate seat. During January's special election, 1,765 Pope County residents voted early. Greg Standridge of Russellville and Stan Berry of Dover received the most votes last month, but neither garnered the more than 50 percent necessary to avoid a runoff. Standridge received nearly 48 percent of the vo...

House electoral tiebreaker proposal falls shortLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Concerns about an Arkansas lawmaker's husband's effort to eliminate the lieutenant governor's office helped sink a House bill on Friday that opponents viewed as tied to the argument for getting rid of the job. The bill failed in a 46-19 vote but no one spoke against the proposal, which needed 51 votes to advance to the Senate. Republican Rep. Julie Mayberry of Hensley offered a way to determine the majority party in Arkansas...

Governor signs tax cutting measure into lawLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday signed into law his campaign promise to cut taxes for the middle class by $102 million, cautioning lawmakers to look at the impact of any other reductions they may weigh this session. Hutchinson, a Republican who took office last month, signed the legislation reducing income taxes by 1 percent for those making between $21,000 and $75,000 a year. The tax cut, which Hutchinson campaigned ...

Hot Springs group gets $2.7 million grant for child careHOT SPRINGS (AP) — A Hot Springs organization is being awarded a $2.7 million federal grant to provide access to learning and care for young children. The grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families is being awarded to Community Services Office, Inc. It's to be used to improve access to learning opportunities for infants and toddlers from low income families. The grant program was develo...

Lawmakers give final approval to cutting taxesLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas lawmakers gave final approval Thursday to Gov. Asa Hutchinson's proposal to cut income taxes for the middle class by $102 million a year, a measure that also calls for reducing part of a 2013 capital gains tax break. By a 31-0 vote, the Senate sent the new Republican governor legislation following through on his chief campaign promise last year. Hutchinson, who was sworn in last month, has called the tax cut his top...

House panel rejects university firearm billLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Concealed firearms will remain banned on Arkansas university campuses after a House panel on Thursday rejected a proposal to force public institutions to allow them. The education committee voted 10-10 after more than two-and-a-half hours of debate and public testimony. The measure needed 11 votes to go before the full House. Sponsor Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, wanted to broaden the scope of a 2013 law that permitted fi...

House OKs expanding computer science in high schoolsLITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas House has approved legislation expanding computer science classes in the state's public high schools and charter schools. The House on Thursday voted 99-0 to require the schools to offer the courses either in a traditional or online setting starting this fall. Supporters have said the courses would be offered online through Virtual Arkansas, a digital delivery system that serves 180 districts in the state. The m...

Panel OKs bill to stop cities from extending rightsLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas' cities and counties shouldn't have the power to pass their own anti-discrimination laws, a Senate panel decided Thursday, with its Republican majority rejecting arguments that the move was an improper overreach into local affairs. Sen. Bart Hester, who introduced legislation that would bar local municipalities from approving their own anti-discrimination laws, said extending rights not already given by the state wo...

Arkansas' 1st-in-the nation Medicaid expansion survivesLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas' first-in-the-nation program using federal funds to buy private health insurance for the poor will survive another year after the Legislature reauthorized the program Thursday, despite an influx of new Republican lawmakers elected on a vow to kill the hybrid Medicaid expansion. The Arkansas House voted 82-16 to reauthorize funding through June 2016 for the "private option" plan, which was crafted two years ago as an...

House panel OKs Hutchinson's education proposalLITTLE ROCK (AP) — An Arkansas House committee on Tuesday unanimously supported Gov. Asa Hutchinson's plan and campaign promise to offer computer science courses to high school students. Public high schools would be required to offer the "high-quality" virtual courses starting in the fall but students would not be required to take them. The bulk of the bill approved by the House Committee on Education details the formation of a task force to e...

Rutledge's office enables group to gather signatures for alcohol salesLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Attorney General Leslie Rutledge's office has cleared the way for a group calling for legalizing alcohol sales statewide to begin gathering signatures to put the proposal on the 2016 ballot. Rutledge's office on Tuesday certified the wording of the proposed constitutional amendment to legalize alcohol sales in all 75 Arkansas counties. The proposal must be certified before supporters can begin gathering the nearly 85,000 sig...

Federal appeals court to hear 3 more gay marriage casesSIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A federal appeals court will consider the gay marriage bans of South Dakota, Arkansas and Missouri in a sped-up process that positions itself to weigh in before an expected U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could settle whether same-sex couples can marry nationwide. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request Tuesday to consider cases from the states at an expedited pace, saying it would consolidate arguments ...

House supports tougher sex offender restrictionsLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas' highest-level sex offenders would be barred from living near churches under a proposal passed by the House. Members voted 75-7 on Tuesday to bar level four sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of churches. Arkansas classifies level four offenders as sexually violent predators, which is the most severe designation by the state. Sex offenders already living near churches would be grandfathered in under the pro...

Bill would expand right to use deadly force in ArkansasLITTLE ROCK (AP) — An Arkansas lawmaker is proposing expanding citizen's rights to use deadly force to defend themselves. Republican Rep. Dwight Tosh of Jonesboro on Tuesday filed a "stand your ground" bill that would expand the legal justifications for someone to use deadly force in self-defense rather than retreating. State law currently allows a person to use deadly force in self-defense without the duty to retreat within their home or the ...

Revenue sees major boost in JanuaryLITTLE ROCK (AP) — A boost in all major tax collection categories in January lifted Arkansas' revenue above expectations and higher than the same month last year, state finance officials said Tuesday. The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said the state's net available revenue last month totaled $521.3 million, which was $37.6 million above January 2014 and $36.2 million above forecast. The state's revenue for the fiscal year t...

House panel rejects larger class size proposalLITTLE ROCK (AP) — An Arkansas House committee has rejected a Senate bill that would allow public schools to temporarily exceed the maximum allowed class size. Members of the House Committee on Education on Tuesday voted against the proposal after teachers and parents voiced concerns that larger class sizes would burden educators and students. The bill would allow public schools to exceed the maximum class size by up to two students for one se...

Panel advances bill creating Medicaid task forceLITTLE ROCK (AP) — A proposed task force to study alternatives for covering the thousands of people on Arkansas' compromise Medicaid expansion advanced to a House vote Tuesday, as legislative leaders tried to avoid a bitter fight over the future of the first-in-the-nation program. The House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee endorsed legislation setting up a 16-member task force to come up with recommendations on the future of the stat...

Legislative Black Caucus supports holiday changeLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Members of Arkansas' Legislative Black Caucus said Monday they'd back another attempt to stop the state from recognizing Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. on the same day. A House panel rejected the idea last week after opponents said that removing Lee from the January holiday would belittle Southern heritage. The bill's sponsor met with the 15-member Legislative Black Caucus on Mond...